Virtual Reality (VR), also known as immersive multimedia or computer-simulated reality, is a computer technology that replicates an environment, real or imagined, and simulates a user's physical presence and environment to allow for user interaction. That is, a VR operation comprehensively unitizes computer graphics systems, display devices, and interface equipment (e.g., controllers) to provide immersive user experience in a computer-generated three-dimensional (3D) interactive environment.
Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that seamlessly integrates real-world information and virtual-world information. Various entity information (e.g., visual information, sound, taste, touch, etc.), which is difficult to experience within a certain time period and space in the real world, is simulated by computer technologies and overlaid on the real world. Thus, virtual information is implemented into the real world, and further perceived by human senses, enhancing or even exceeding one's current perception of reality. The real environment and virtual objects are superimposed onto a same screen in real time or coexist in a space. By contrast, VR replaces the real world with a simulated one.
That is, an AR operation not only demonstrates the real-world information, but also simultaneously provides virtual information, in which the two types of information are superimposed and supplementary to each other. In visual AR, users may adopt headsets through which the real world and computer graphics is overlapped with each other, and the computer graphics surrounded by the real world is observed.
Currently, headset displays similar to Oculus headsets allow users to experience the VR effect, while products similar to Google glasses allow users to experience the AR effect. Although an existing VR headset enables the user to watch virtual scenes and virtual characters, these virtual scenes and characters are all pre-designed or rendered based on specific algorithms, without being integrated with a real environment in which the user wears the VR headset. Thus, the existing VR headset may be short of an interaction with the real environment.
The existing AR eyeglasses enable the user to see the real-world environment in front, analyze the images of the real world, and provide corresponding information. However, the existing AR eyeglasses may not be able to provide the user with pleasure of realistic virtual scenes, i.e., AR technology may have difficulties to provide a smooth integration of virtuality and reality.
The disclosed method, apparatus and smart wearable device for fusing AR and VR are directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems in the art.